LOS ANGELES -- Scattered power outages linked to near-record heat and record-setting demand have blacked out various neighborhoods across the city Saturday.

As of mid-afternoon, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power estimated that 5,700 customers, both businesses and residences, were without air conditioners or refrigerators at some point during the afternoon, in temperatures above 90 degrees.

Four days of above 90 and they have blackouts. We went 7 days above 100 with none. The energy production in the west is abyssmal at best and criminal at worst.

In the Tennessee Valley region we had 5 (I think) straight days with over 33,000 Megawatts of output (high point output) without any problems (until fire on a transformer knocked out a 500kV line and caused a plant to shut down a unit for safety reasons and a transformer problem in north Alabama caused a blackout to parts of a city, no 'production' blackouts). The deregulation of the energy industry in California was a bold move when it occurred but people are still paying for it.

Competition is great, but only if there are enough people to supply the demand needed.

"I apologize for what I have caused. I am deeply sorry," Craig said, his wife Suzanne at his side.

Craig's resignation completed a stunning downfall that began Monday with the disclosure that he pleaded guilty to a reduced charge following his arrest during a sex sting in a Minneapolis airport men's room.

Although leading members of his own party had called for him to step down, Craig steadfastly resisted resigning for days, contending he had done nothing wrong and that his only mistake was pleading guilty Aug. 1 to a misdemeanor charge.(link)

I've read all kind of 'tolerant' people heaping mounds of ridicule on this man, from right-wing people to lefty liberals and their agenda of inclusion. From what I've read (and the audio of the 'arrest') the Senator didn't do much that would be considered illegal. Yes he pled guilty to a misdemeanor, but this small fine has now cost him his job.

I don't really want to get into the Democrats vs Republicans on scandals, but I do want to talk about how they respectively handle them. The Dems will rally around their troublemaker and take a stand, 9 times out of 10 this gets the person off the hook (so to speak) and they continue to serve. The Repubs will circle like sharks in the water and attack. They force resignations at a whim to avoid looking 'bad' in the public (and end up looking bad all the same).

While I personally believe homosexuality is a sin and against G-d, that gives me no right to judge someone for what they believe or do. Had Sen. Craig been caught having sex in a public place, maybe I would feel different about this issue, but he was not. He was caught 'proposing' to have sex, something that happens every minute of every day from schools to bars to public transportation. When that becomes illegal, this country truly will die.

Stand by the American Mission in Iraq

Iraq is now the central front in the War on Terrorism - not because Americans want it to be but because America's enemies have said so and made it so. Al-Qaeda and Iranian-backed militias are determined to drive the United States out of Iraq. Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups would then use that country as a safe haven from which they can mount attacks on the U.S., its interests and allies.

We recognize that the U.S. involvement in Iraq has divided Americans and that our leaders have made mistakes. We also recognize the cost of this war, not only in financial terms but, more importantly, in the loss of more than 3,000 of our bravest men and women. The issue, however, is not how or why U.S. forces became engaged in Iraq but, rather, what is happening there now and what would happen if we were to leave too soon. (link)

Thursday, August 30, 2007

Remember the 'consensus' on man-made global warming? The study that found the consensus used search terms from papers published between '93 and '03. Since it was old, the study has been redone (using the same methodology):

In 2004, history professor Naomi Oreskes performed a survey of research papers on climate change. Examining peer-reviewed papers published on the ISI Web of Science database from 1993 to 2003, she found a majority supported the "consensus view," defined as humans were having at least some effect on global climate change. Oreskes' work has been repeatedly cited, but as some of its data is now nearly 15 years old, its conclusions are becoming somewhat dated.

Medical researcher Dr. Klaus-Martin Schulte recently updated this research. Using the same database and search terms as Oreskes, he examined all papers published from 2004 to February 2007. The results have been submitted to the journal Energy and Environment, of which DailyTech has obtained a pre-publication copy. The figures are surprising.

Of 528 total papers on climate change, only 38 (7%) gave an explicit endorsement of the consensus. If one considers "implicit" endorsement (accepting the consensus without explicit statement), the figure rises to 45%. However, while only 32 papers (6%) reject the consensus outright, the largest category (48%) are neutral papers, refusing to either accept or reject the hypothesis. This is no "consensus."

The figures are even more shocking when one remembers the watered-down definition of consensus here. Not only does it not require supporting that man is the "primary" cause of warming, but it doesn't require any belief or support for "catastrophic" global warming. In fact of all papers published in this period (2004 to February 2007), only a single one makes any reference to climate change leading to catastrophic results.

As you can see, the papers being written don't seem to add up to a 'consensus' any longer. Not that this will make a difference to those already a part of the GCC church, but it is a start.

I don't expect the James' of the world to change their minds on it, but a little opening of the mind couldn't hurt.

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Earlier this month, my wife and I went to visit my brother and his wife at their apartment in New Jersey. We got to spend 3 full days with them and visiting New York City. This is the first time that I had been to either place. New York City has been in the top 2 places in the U.S. that I wanted to visit in my life. So needless to say, I was excited to visit the Big Apple. It was awesome.

While we were there it just so happened (wink, wink) that the subscribers to Conservative radio host and CNN Headline TV host Glenn Beck's website were having a National Insider Convention. Basically it is a gathering of Glenn's fans just to meet each other and spend time together. There are several of these Insider Conventions held across the country. About 2 years ago several Insiders wanted to have a national meeting. Glenn was invited to attend. Long story short, New York City was the only place that Glenn's schedule allowed him to attend. The first National Insider Convention was held last year. This year was the second and I was able to attend. Beck and his staff organized several events and Glenn was there for each one. Maybe it's just me, but Glenn genuinely seemed like a real person. He was very down to earth and very polite.

I have posted several pictures of a couple of the events. (I am the tall fat dufus with the loud shirt and goofy beard.) The first set were taken before and after a private screening (for the Insiders) of the taping of Glenn's TV show. Before the taping he described a little of what to expect and what he does. Afterward he came back to talk a little longer and even answered a few questions from us. The second set were taken the next day during a Meet & Greet session. Glenn and his staff answered questions for about 90 minutes. Then he met (albeit briefly) with each and every Insider. Posing for pictures and giving autographs. I was really impressed with the intimacy of the whole thing. Plus, he seemed genuinely thankful for those of us that are willing to pay a little extra every month to subscribe to his site. That or he was really laying it on thick. :D

The New York City photos (all 554 of them) are ones that the wife and I took on our trip around Manhattan, Ellis Island and Liberty Island. There is a lot of boring stuff in there. Believe it or not, I weeded out a lot of the really boring stuff. (I started with about 600+ pics)

From MVRWC a story about a 21st birthday that no one would want to have.

I can remember exactly what I was doing and where I was at on my 21st. It was a very nice, happy evening (playing and watching great pool players) and at the stroke of midnight (my 'actual' birthday) the lady behind the bar symbolically carded me (she knew why we were there) and after assessing I was 21, she lined up 21 shots of Jack on the bar and told me 'on the house'.

Yes I got plastered. Sadly Gilad might not even be alive on his birthday. Goto the MVRWC site and read the whole thing please.

After a self-proclaimed pedophile was hounded out of Southern California over the weekend, bloggers sent up a nationwide call Sunday for help tracking his movements.

Jack McClellan, previously from the Snohomish County town of Arlington, in recent months had been living out of his car in Southern California. A judge there on Friday permanently barred him from going within 30 feet of places where children gather.

“I have to leave the state, really. I can’t live here under this Orwellian protocol,” Jack McClellan told television station KABC for a report that aired Sunday. “It’s nightmarish.”

Click through to read all of it (and his links to other posts about it). This is one way we ALL can help to keep children safe.